also, you mentioned that one crazed insurgent doesnt represent the iraqi people as a whole. fair enough, but he sure as hell represents ALOT of iraqis…thats for sure! and even if he only represents 10% of iraqis, thats trouble for us because you dont even need that many to make our stay in iraq treacherous. and there is no way in hell you can say that iraq isnt treacherous. in fact, its obvious that its downright scary. i sure as heck wouldnt want to be there. now if you had evidence that its getting better (and there is no way you can possibly have that evidence), that would be a different story.

by the way, i made it clear that i have no problem with the opinions of individual soldiers, but my comment was made towards the military as a whole. in other words, i’m not interested in this idea that “the military” as a whole has only 1 opinion or some general one sided political view and that we as american civilians should consider it when voting. even if that were true, i wouldnt give that opinion the weight i give the opinion of a 4 year old. if the military cant critisize the policies of the commander and chief openly in a letter, then i’m not interested in their criticism of me as a voter in a letter. the voters didnt send troops into iraq, so why should this soldier be pissed at us?

i guess my main problem is with rusty humphries himself. what is he trying to tell us by pubicizing this letter? whats his point? is this letter supposed to make us feel bad for voting the way we did? and to boot, the letter is silly, mean, outrageous and juvenile. i mean, more than half of this country is stupid for voting democrat while this soldier is so damn smart? give me a break.

in closing let me say this…when bush decided to take this country to war, it was well understood that he was taking a huge risk for his presidency. risk inherently means that there is a chance of failure. all of you war supporters KNEW that from the beginning. if bush was successful, it was understood that repubs would have control of our government for at least a generation. democrats were the scourge of the country at the time. we were vanquished and many of the countrys’ best democrats cowered under the bush presidency. most didnt even challenge the president on iraq. i can still remember bush on that aircraft carrier at the pinnacle of his victory and i remember the euphoria most republicans were feeling. i know…it was very intoxicating, wasnt it? well, that risk went bust and we democrats and liberals are not to blame. why you guys are so reluctant to blame big bad bush for this debacle goes over my head. i’m not going to spout off with the ‘i told you so’s'……but maybe you guys will be more humble in the future with concern to foreign policy and not so full of hubris. but this war? its lost and everybody knows it. so please, let our boys come home instead of keeping them there just so you can say that you arent “cutting and running.”

also, why should i believe that soldiers in iraq overwhelmingly disagree with the election results? i’m not saying that rusty humphries is a liar, but he’s a very strong partisan and was quite bitter after the election. this letter sounded EXACTLY like his rant on the night of the election. from my experience, soldiers generally remain very apolitical throughout their military service. the exception to this rule can be found in the senior levels of the officer corps. but for the most part, in my 6 years in the army i cant even remember any serious political discussions. besides, soldiers in iraq have a whole lot more to worry about than the mid-term elections. that IED around the corner doesnt give a darn about who just won an election.

furthermore, i resent the implication that i’ve stabbed the military in the back simply because i dont vote the way THEY want me to!! thats absurd. the military have absolutely no right to excoriate the electorate and none of us should vote based on what the military would prefer. when i was in the army, i sure as hell didnt like reagan. but who was i to tell the american public that they were idiots for electing him? perhaps the military rank and file should be discussing the 400 disabled vets who raised hell last year at a congressional hearing where republican legislators such as steve buyer R-indiana were roasted and jeered for submitting barely enough money for the 2006 budget for returning servicemembers from iraq and afghanistan with horrific injuries.

the most amazing thing about all of this dem/liberal bashing is that this whole situation has deterioriated without a single democrat in any real position of power in our national government….but somehow they are to blame. i knew this would happen and predicted it. if this war was a success, bush is a hero and the republicans hold power for a generation. but if the war turned out to be a disaster (and it is), its all the liberals fault for stabbing the troops in the back. LOL…can’t win.

Actually, on Bush’s enlistment papers he checked the box that said “do not volunteer for overseas”. You can see the document here: http://www.takebackthemedia.com/images/donotbush.gif